The technology uses a femtosecond laser (creating pulses lasting one-quadrillionth of a second). The high speed enables the laser to quickly focus in on a specific region without overheating.

“Using ultra-short light pulses gives us the ability to focus in a well confined region and the ability for intense radiation,” said co-inventor Christian Parigger, associate professor of physics. “This allows us to come in and leave a specific area quickly so we can diagnose and attack tumorous cells fast.”

Once the cancerous area is precisely targeted, the intensity of the laser radiation would be turned up to irradiate, or burn off, the tumor. This method has the potential to be more exact than current methods and to be done as an outpatient procedure, replacing intensive surgery.

“Because the femtosecond laser radiation can be precisely focused both spatially and temporally, one can avoid heating up too many other things that you do not want heated,” said Parigger. “Using longer laser-light pulses is similar to leaving a light bulb on, which gets warm and can damage healthy tissue.”

The imaging mechanism can non-invasively permeate thin layers of bone, such as the skull, and can help define a targeted treatment strategy for persistent cancer. The method also overcomes limitations posed by current treatments in which radiation may damage portions of healthy brain tissue, Parigger said.

The he Center for Laser Applications has yet not announced plans for medical studies.

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comments 11

Yea, my genuinely beautiful mother, who looked like a movie star, died of cancer at the age of 39. This was a tragedy that still affects our family today, some 50 years later. What an ugly scourge! The sooner we get rid of it, the better.
As for AI’s and robots taking over, that would be fine with me except I don’t see our politicians giving everyone a living wage on which we could live and enjoy a life of leisure and productive activity anytime soon. Before the current economic paradigm can be radically altered, there will be wide spread pain, I predict.

Jobs? We don’t need no stinking jobs! Just hearing the word job makes me cringe. I can’t wait for robots/ai to take mine. It’ll be nice to not sit in an office cubicle for 8 hours a day. I’d rather be doing more constructive things with my time.

Developments like these both offer new jobs and take old ones away. I for one would gladly see my education and job become outdated if it meant a world without cancer. Besides, most of us won’t do the same jobs our whole lives anyway, we’ll need re-schooling several times in our career.

To see us working towards a point where cancer isn’t just manageable, but potentially curable without invasive surgeries is something beautiful.

@Bri, I hope you are not suggesting that we should keep cancer in order to keep jobs. I prefer being unemployed and healthy than employed and with terminal cancer. Besides, this is the 21st century. The 19th century concept of “job” has gone. In this century, there will be no such a thing as permanent employment. We will be all free agents, which is good.

As I have written before, all jobs will go, even mine. I look forward to that day. I bring up the issue to raise awareness to it. In order to make a smooth transition, we need to be prepared. If it is widely dicussed, safeguards can be put in place to address the social unrest. I think everyone would like to not have to work. It’s not like I won’t be doing anything, I’m too creative to just sit around and play video games. Virtual reality scares me. There are so many time periods that I would love to experience. It would be hard to leave. I mean, can you imagine hanging out with Micheal Angelo, or Aristotle. Talk about a trip!!! In regards to the article, I can’t wait till cancer is wiped out, it runs in my family. Looks like it could happen in this decade!!!!!